A mating pair of Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonflies (Sympetrum ambiguum) was spotted at a vernal pool in Huntley Meadows Park (HMP). The vernal pool, currently dry, is the same one where teneral Blue-faced Meadowhawks were observed during late-May and early-June 2016.
This mating pair is “in wheel.” All dragonflies and damselflies have a 10-segmented abdomen, numbered from front to back: male dragonfly secondary genitalia, called hamules, are located in segments two and three (S2 and S3); female genitalia in segment eight (S8). Dragonflies form the mating wheel in order for their genitalia to connect during copulation.
15 SEP 2016 | HMP | Blue-faced Meadowhawks (mating pair, “in wheel“)
Some species of dragonflies display sexual dimorphism; females are polymorphic for a smaller subset of those species. Andromorph females are male-like in color; heteromorph females are duller in color than males.
Notice the female in this mating pair is an andromorph. Female andromorphs are less common than heteromorphs.
15 SEP 2016 | HMP | Blue-faced Meadowhawks (mating pair, “in wheel“)
Copyright © 2016 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: adult female, adult male, andromorph, Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, hamules, heteromorph, Huntley Meadows Park, in wheel, mating pair, polymorphic, sexual dimorphism, Skimmer Family, Sympetrum ambiguum, teneral, vernal pool
November 13, 2016 at 6:51 pm |
[…] some of my digital photography and videography. « Bad day to be a bee! Time to mate […]
November 13, 2016 at 6:54 pm |
[…] Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonflies are classified as a fall species of odonate. In the mid-Atlantic United States, meadowhawks seem to disappear for several months after they emerge during early summer and reappear during fall. Where do they go? No one knows for sure. I speculate Blue-faced Meadowhawks are an arboreal species of dragonfly that returns to the ground/water when it’s time to mate. […]